As with most Friday nights, there's a big concert at Vinyl Music Hall this Friday. But this one isn't just another rock show.

"Destiny's Light" is a suicide awareness/prevention benefit concert spearheaded by A.J.'s BraveHearts and featuring a number of the area's most talented bands. Conceived by larger-than-life frontman A.J. Fratto — a long-time fixture on the Pensacola music scene — A.J.'s BraveHearts is both a band and a nonprofit organization that works on and plays for a number of worthwhile projects. But this one hit particularly close to home for Fratto and his band.

"Destiny's Light" is named for Destiny Heaven Close, who killed herself just days before her 23rd birthday. She's the daughter of Larry Close, who plays bass in A.J.'s BraveHearts. Her mother, Close's wife, also took her own life seven years prior.

"Two days after the funeral, it hit me that we needed to do something, and being a musician, a concert came naturally," Larry Close said. "So I reached out to A.J., and he took the reins from there. He has a big heart, and I knew he'd know what to do."

Fratto has personally suffered with mental health issues throughout his life, and considers himself a "three-time escape artist."

A.J. Fratto will lead A.J.'s BraveHearts for "Destiny's Light," a suicide awareness/prevention concert at Vinyl Music Hall.(Photo11: Jody Link/online@PNJ.com)

"People look at me and they see this big, happy-go-lucky guy, but they don't know what this can hide," Fratto said. "So I reach out to other people. I want to help people who feel like they can't see the light at the end of the tunnel, and to help my friend, Larry."

Fratto said the concert would be a celebration of those who have been lost to suicide, along with raising money and awareness to help prevent future suicides and those with mental health issues.

A U.S. Navy veteran who served as a highly decorated aviation rescue swimmer and as the Blue Angels crew chief, Fratto said he has struggled with bipolar disorder and PTSD, and has had "almost 1,000" doctor's appointments since leaving the service, dealing with his issues. He said he's determined to continue to "fight for my life."

"I know I have people who love me, but I have to learn to love myself," he said. "I love everybody, no matter who they are. That’s all I know how to do. The love of my heart is the best medicine I’ve had, and that’s what I’m going to give until I’m gone."

Fratto said doing charity work is a big part of what helps him go on.

"People need love, they need someone to care," he said. "They may not have the ability to communicate because their suffering is so difficult. But I’m like a lightning bolt, I fight through those clouds. I want to help people who can’t do that. If I can help one more boy or girl, whoever they are, I want to."

That attitude is a big part of why Close approached Fratto with the idea for "Destiny's Light."

"He’s the megaphone," Close said. "He’s the one that’s vocal and out there. He has a lot of support out there. And he’s been through this. So for him to do this and get up on stage and talk about it says a lot about his character."

A.J. Fratto will lead A.J.'s BraveHearts for "Destiny's Light," a suicide awareness/prevention concert at Vinyl Music Hall.(Photo11: Jody Link/online@PNJ.com)

The concert will feature performances by A.J.'s BraveHearts, Palafoxx, Nik Flagstar and His Dirty Mangy Dogs and Young Natives.

Flagstar said he and his band wanted to be a part of this concert because suicide has touched their lives, as well.

"I've personally lost many friends to suicide, and our band had lost quite a few that we all cared for, as well, over the years," Flagstar said. "Aside from that basic loss, I have dealt with depression in my family and in myself my entire life. If I can make someone feel that they aren't alone in this, it is almost a duty for me, being fortunate enough to have the limited artistic voice that I have."

Close said taking the stage with A.J.'s BraveHearts will be hard for him, but it's important to him to be a part of the event.

"We need to get the word out that it’s OK to speak out when you’re hurting," he said. "With my daughter, I had no idea. Three weeks before, I’d been with her on a long car trip; and we went to the movies three days before. She kept her silence. She never wanted to hurt anyone else. It was different with her mom, we knew she had an issue, we battled it for 20 years."

The money raised through the $5 requested donation for admission will be distributed through the A.J.'s BraveHearts' nonprofit to mental health awareness programs chosen by Close.

"We're going to look for mom and pop organizations," Fratto said. "We're working to keep it local with groups here in Pensacola."

Close said he's still looking at charities to determine which would make best use of the money. He said it's important to him to find organizations that put the majority of their money into services and that avoid exorbitant executive salaries.

Beyond that, Fratto said they're looking to celebrate the lives of those lost by having their photographs displayed on the Vinyl Music Hall monitors during the show.

"We would really, really like people to send high-resolution photos of people they lost so we can celebrate them," Fratto said.

Overall, though, the message Fratto and Close want to send is that no one has to struggle alone.

"We’re all little notes in the big sheet of music," Fratto said. "Everybody has somebody in their life who suffers form something. We want to make sure people know that there’s somebody they can talk to."